Bows and arrows have long been used in many various fields of endeavor, such as combat, hunting, sport, competition, and recreation. In almost all instances, accuracy is critical in achieving a successful shot. Most notably, flight characteristics of the arrow play a large role in determining the accuracy of the shot. In order to adjust the flight characteristics of an arrow, one or more fletching member is typically provided on the shaft of an arrow. The design and attachment of the fletching members affect drag, spin, and trueness of flight, in addition to other flight characteristics.
Typically, fletching members are attached to the outside of an arrow shaft using an adhesive. Correct alignment and positioning of the fletching members during attachment is usually attempted by using a fletching jig that retains the fletching members in the proper position while the adhesive cures. Unfortunately, the process of applying the fletching members using conventional jigs is tedious, difficult, time-consuming, and does not ensure accurate results. For example, one or more fletching members may become misaligned, potentially interfering with the proper function of the fletching members.
In addition, the jig is an expensive piece of specialized equipment and can only be used to apply fletching members to a single arrow shaft at a time. Since the jig must remain attached to the arrow shaft until the adhesive cures, fletching techniques using a conventional jig are limited in their efficiency. Thus, fletching using a conventional jig typically takes a long time and is done well in advance of the time when the arrow is to be fired. This means that arrows are typically transported with the fletching members attached, whereby the fletching members may be damaged or become detached from the arrow shaft, thereby necessitating time-consuming repair.
Finally, conventional fletching techniques cannot practically be performed in the field in the event that a fletching member is damaged during use or transportation, due to inconvenience of carrying the jig, as well as the long curing time associated with the use of adhesive. Thus, archers typically carry more “spare” arrows than they would need if fletching member repair could practically be performed in the field.
One attempt to address these problems involved the use of a stamped sheet metal member having flanges punched and bent upwards extending from the surface of the sheet. The device could be glued to the exterior of an arrow shaft for retaining a feather therein. This design, however, had numerous flaws which presumably were the cause of its ultimate failure in the market. One such flaw was the presence of the flanges protruding up, radially away from the arrow shaft, adversely impacting the flight characteristics of an arrow to which they were attached. Furthermore, because the device was a punched sheet, the feather is forcibly separated from the surface of the arrow shaft, with the sheet metal member therebetween, whereby more the base of the feather itself was exposed to oncoming air, further disturbing the flight characteristics of the arrow. Another disadvantage was the necessary inclusion of structural supports bridging the space between opposing flanges, whereby the flanges could not engage an entire periphery of the feather's base, leaving the feather loose, such that the feather did not provide the desired beneficial effects on the arrow's flight characteristics. Finally, since the design could not provide support and retention of the feather around its entire base, a tab extending radially from the device was necessary to retain the feather engaged with the flanges during use; wherein such tab again further impacted airflow about the feather, and wherein without such tab the feather would simply fall off the arrow in flight or during firing.
It is readily apparent from the flaws of such previous attempts to provide convenient fletching member mounting structures and methods that any projection from the surface of the arrow has the potential to disrupt the flight characteristics thereof, and furthermore is exposed to a great risk of damage by striking an object, and being damaged thereby, during use.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide a fletching system, and a method therefor, that ensures proper alignment of the fletching members, is inexpensive, efficient, and easy to use, thereby reducing the time and cost needed to apply fletching members to an arrow shaft, that allows fletching members to be attached to an arrow shaft in the field, such as during a repair, thereby reducing the number of “spare” arrows that an archer needs to purchase, prepare, and carry, that maintains or improves the flight characteristics of the arrow, and that is protected from exposure to damage during use.